(Story by WFMZ-TV 69 News)
Reading High School’s special education team is partnering with a local foundation to help students stay active.
For Chris Kaag, the founder of the IM ABLE Foundation, his mission to promote activity in kids of all abilities is his driving force.
“There’s lots of kids who are very sedentary and aren’t as active as they should be,” Kaag said.
With Kaag, it started off personal and grew from there.
“It really kind of annoys me when I see gym classes not seeing the adaptive population involved,” Kaag said.
Now, his nonprofit is donating a crank cycle and basketball wheelchair to students at Reading High School.
This is the first equipment donation for the school from the foundation, but it hopes to have more of these opportunities in the future.
“It’s definitely a confidence builder, because they are able to do stuff that they don’t normally do, and they’re able to show what they can do,” said Heather Foltz, lead special education teacher for Reading High School.
Last year, the Reading School District formed a partnership with the foundation to benefit special education students.
“We started with just a couple times they [IM ABLE] had come here and worked with our multiple disabilities classroom,” says Foltz.
Since then the relationship has blossomed.
“This is why it reminds us why we do the things we do,” says Kaag. “When you can get smiles on kids’ faces for just being active.”